Legal claims defining the scope of protection, as filed with the USPTO.
1. A system comprising: a web server comprising at least one processor programmed to: receive at least one purchase selection from a user; receive a primary identifier from the user; and receive payment information for the purchase selection; an application server comprising at least one processor programmed to: attempt to authenticate the user to an existing account using the primary identifier by: determining that the primary identifier corresponds to the existing account; determining that the user failed to provide a valid password for the existing account; in response to the determination that the user failed to provide a valid password for the existing account, use the primary identifier to automatically create a temporary provisional account for the user that is distinct from the existing account without requiring any additional information from the user; and associate the purchase selection with the provisional account in order to fulfill the purchase selection; a user data store that stores user account data; an order data store that stores purchase data associated with accounts in the user data store; and a product data store that stores product description and pricing data.
2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the application server is further programmed to provide access to a purchased product corresponding to the purchase selection.
3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the application server is further programmed to resolve the provisional account with a permanent account.
4. A computer-implemented method comprising: receiving at least one purchase selection from a user; receiving a primary identifier from the user; receiving payment information for the purchase selection; attempting to authenticate the user to an existing account using the primary identifier by: determining that the primary identifier matches the existing account; determining that the user failed to provide a valid password for the existing account; in response to the determination that the user failed to provide a valid password for the existing account, using the primary identifier to automatically create a temporary provisional account for the user that is distinct from the existing account without requiring any additional information from the user; and associating the purchase selection with the provisional account in order to fulfill the purchase selection; wherein all the method steps are performed by a computing device comprising at least one processor.
5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the primary identifier comprises at least one of an email address, a user ID, a company name, and an encrypted token.
6. The method of claim 4 , further comprising providing access to a purchased product corresponding to the purchase selection.
7. The method of claim 4 , further comprising resolving the provisional account with a permanent account.
8. The method of claim 7 , wherein resolving the provisional account with the permanent account comprises creating a new permanent account for the user.
9. The method of claim 7 , wherein resolving the provisional account with the permanent account comprises: receiving at least one secondary identifier from the user; comparing the at least one secondary identifier received from the user with identifiers in the permanent account; and determining that the at least one secondary identifier received from the user matches at least one of the identifiers in the permanent account.
10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the secondary identifier comprises at least one of a name, an address, and a credit card number.
11. The method of claim 7 , wherein resolving the provisional account with the permanent account comprises: receiving product registration information from the user; and comparing the product registration information received from the user with information in the permanent account; determining that at least a portion of the product registration information received from the user matches at least a portion of the information in the permanent account.
12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the product registration information comprises authentication credentials and a unique product identifier.
13. An apparatus comprising: a communication module programmed to: receive at least one purchase selection from a user; receive a primary identifier from the user; and receive payment information for the purchase selection; a security module programmed to attempt to authenticate the user to an existing account using the primary identifier by: determining that the primary identifier matches the existing account; and determining that the user failed to provide a valid password for the existing account; an account management module programmed to, in response to the determination that the user failed to provide a valid password for the existing account, use the primary identifier to automatically create a temporary provisional account for the user that is distinct from the existing account without requiring any additional information from the user; a payment processing module programmed to associate the at least one purchase selection with the provisional account in order to fulfill the purchase selection; and at least one processor programmed to execute the communication module, the security module, the account management module, and the payment processing module.
14. The apparatus of claim 13 , further comprising a product fulfillment module programmed to provide a purchased product corresponding to the purchase selection.
15. The apparatus of claim 13 , wherein the primary identifier comprises at least one of an email address, a user ID, and a company name.
16. The apparatus of claim 13 , wherein the account management module is further programmed to resolve the provisional account with a permanent account.
17. The apparatus of claim 16 , wherein the account management module resolves the provisional account with the permanent account by creating a new permanent account for the user.
18. The apparatus of claim 16 , wherein the account management module resolves the provisional account with the permanent account by: receiving at least one secondary identifier from the user; comparing the at least one secondary identifier received from the user with identifiers in the permanent account; and determining that the at least one secondary identifier received from the user matches at least one of the identifiers in the permanent account.
19. The apparatus of claim 18 , wherein the secondary identifier comprises at least one of a name, an address, and a credit card number.
20. The apparatus of claim 16 , wherein the account management module resolves the provisional account with the permanent account by: receiving product registration information from the user; comparing the product registration information received from the user with information in the permanent account; and determining that at least a portion of the product registration information received from the user matches at least a portion of the information in the permanent account.
Unknown
January 31, 2012
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